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Patented Oct. 21, I919.

T. E. BARNES AND B. c. SHETTER.

DISPENSING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 6| I919. 1,319,264. 516.1.

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THOMAS E. rams, or once, NEwYoax. AND BREWSTER o. SHET'IER, or

. LANCASTER, PENNSYLVANIA.

DISPENSING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 21, 1919.

Application filed March 6, 1919. Serial No. 280,973.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, THOMAS E. BARNES and BREWSTER C. SHE'rrER, citizensof the United States, and residents, respectively, of Utica, in thecounty of Oneida and State of New York, and Lancaster, 'in the county ofLancaster and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Dispensing Devices; and we do hereby declare thatthe following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, whichwill enable others skilled in the art to which 7 it appertain's to makeand use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, andto the reference-numerals marked thereon, which form part of thisspecifica- .tion.

Our present invention relates to a dispensing device whereby paste orother semiliquid material may be discharged from a receptacle asrequired. Our device is especially adapted to and is illustrated anddescribed herein as being used as a dispensing device for tooth-pasteand is used in connection with a tooth brush. It will be understood,however, that our invention is not limited to use with toothpaste but.may be used in-a great variety of ways such as, for shaving cream,semi-liquid soap, ointments and various other toilet and medicinalpreparations. While our article is here illustrated in connection with atooth brush it will be noted that it may be readily used without thetooth brush attachment and is a complete article without the toothbrush. The purpose of our invention is to provide a dispensing device ofthe class described .which is simple in construction and operation,durable and sanitary in use and capable of being applied to many uses.

Another object of our invention is to provide a dispensing devicewherein a yielding back of the material in the receptacle toobtain aspring pressure tending to gently force the material from thereceptacle; and furthermore to provide in connection with said springand plunger such a combination and arrangement of the parts as are welladapted to provide an improved dispensing device; a still furtherpurpose isto provide in connection with the coiled spring and plungermeans whereby the tension of the spring may be readily varied at willobviating excessive pressure when the receptacle is full and maintainingsuflicient pressure to force all material from the receptacle in propermanner.

Further purposes and advantages of our invention will appear fromspecifications and claims herein.

Figure '1 is a view partly in side elevation and partly in longitudinalsection of a dispensing device embodying our invention in aform adaptedfor use separate from any other article.

Fig. 2 is a side view of a tooth brush equipped with a tooth-pastedispensing device embodying our invention.

Fig. dis a view of the same mostly in a longitudinal section and showingthe piston in retracted position.

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional View on an enlarged scale of thesecond form of our ing the paste-receiving receptacle on a similarlyenlarged scale.

Fig. 6 is a longitudinal sectional View of the casing housing the coiledspring on the same scale as Figs. 23.

Fig. 7 is a side View of a portion of said casing ,on an enlarged scalewith its interior-screW-threaded arrangement shown in dotted lines.

Fig. 8 is a side view of the piston.

Figs. 9' and 10 are front end and side views respectively of the sleeveto which is attached the rear end of the coiled spring.

Fig. 11 is a side view of the shaft piece.

Referring to the drawings in a more particular description it will beseen there is provided a receptacle cylindrical in form and hereinaftercall the paste-receiving cylinder 15, provided with a forward openin 16of reduced diameter and with its rear end open for the full interiordiameter of the cylinder. The outside of the cylinder'15 is knurled atits extreme rear end 17 for a purpose to be hereinafter described andforward thereof or -to the left as shown in the drawings is providedwit-ha. screw-threaded portion 18 of slightly larger diameter than theknurled portion 17.

Removably and slidably mounted in the bore of the cylinder 15 isprovided the piston 19 of such diameter as to closely fit said cylinderand force material in said cylinder forward and out of its forwardopening 16 as the piston 19 is moved forward.

To the rear of said piston 19 is attached the forward'end of a coiledspring 20 as by means of the forward coil of said spring being made ofreduced diameter so as to hold itself in the annular recess 21 providedon theside of a projection 22 upon the rear face of the iston 19.

n A ho low casing'23 is provided adapted to house the coiled spring inthe cavity of said casing. The forward end of this casing 23 is securedpreferably in a detachable'manner to the cylinder 15 as by the forwardend of said casing being provided with internal screw threads 24 adaptedto engage the external screw-threaded portion 18 on cylinder 15.Slightly back from its front end or left end as seen in the drawings andclose to the extreme rear end of the cylinder 15 the casing 23 isprovided with an inwardly extended projection adapted to cooperativelyengage one of the coils of the coiled spring 20. Preferably thisinwardly extending projection will be formed as an inwardly extendingring 25 provided on its inner surface with a groove 26 spirally disposedto form a screw-threadin through which will play a coil of the coi edspring 20 as the said spring is rotated. The cavity 27 in said casing tothe rear of the screw-threading 26 is of a diameter to contain thecoiled spring arranged longitudinally in the casing and said chambercavity 27 is of sufficient length to house substantially all of thespring when it is in retracted position as appears from Fig. 3 of thedrawing. It will be understood of course that the rear end of the'coiledspring is held within the casing 23 and that rotative movement isimparted to said coiled spring by, means engaging the rear end of thespring and operated from without the casing. These means include asleeve 28, a shaft 29 and a disk 30. The sleeve 28 is rotably mounted inthe central aperture provided in the right end 31 of the casing 23 andis provided at its forward or left end portion with the flange 32adapted to bear against the inner face of said casing end.

Through the sleeve 28 extends the shaft 29, the two parts being securedto rotate with each other aS by means of a pin 33 extending through saidtwo parts. The rear end. of the shaft 29 projects beyond the sleeve 28 Iand the rear end of the-casing 23 to receivethe disk 30 which is fixedto said projecting end of the shaft by any proper means such as a pin 34extending through said disk and shaft. The flange 32 upon the sleeve 28is provided with a longitudinal extending recess 35. Beyond the flange32 of the sleeve 28 the shaft 29 has a short and slightly enlargedportion 36 and therebeyond is provided with a further enlargement 37preferably of sufficient length to extend merely to the screwthreadedinward projection 25 of the casing 23. This enlargement 37, preferablyhollow as indicated in Fig. 11 for the sake of lightness, serves as aguide inside that portion of the spring 20. that may at any time be inthe cavity 27. The rearmost coil of spring 20 is formed .with a reduceddiameter fitting into the recess provided outside the portion .slot 35in the flange 32 of sleeve 28.

It will now be seen that rotation of the knurled disk 30 in onedirection will operate to screw the coiled spring 20 forwardly throughthe screw-threading 26 and that thereupon the portion of said springforward of said screw-threading will tend to expand and will exert aspring pressure against the piston 19 tending to force said pistonforward and therefore forcing the paste or other semi-liquid materialfrom the cylinder 15 out through the forward opening 16.

It will also be seen that rotation of the knurled disk 30 in theopposite direction will operate to screw the coiled spring 20 backthrough the screw-threading of the casing 23 gradually withdrawing thepiston 19 to the right as the parts are shown in the drawing and finallywithdrawing the said piston entirely from the cylinder 15 to theposition shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings with substantially all of thecoiled spring housed under compression in the cavity 27 of the casing.

With the piston in this retracted position the casing 23 may be readilydetached from the cylinder 15, exposing to view the open rear end of thecylinder 15 which may be readily re-filled with a fresh supply of pasteor other semi-fluid material. Thereupon the casing 23 will be againattached to the cylinder and the rotation of the knurled disk 30 willoperate to have the piston 19 again enter the bore of the cylinder 15.

It will now be seen that we have provided a dispensing device ofimproved form and well adapted to attain the purposes pointed outearlierin the specification and having the advantages above mentioned.It will be particularly noted that the pressure communicated to thepiston 19 and thereby to the ing pressure and that the extent of saidpressure may be regulated with great nicety.

For this reason the device is well adapted to obtain a gentle flow ofthematerial from the forward opening of the cylinder instead of thepositive squirt that results where a positive ressure is imparted tosemi-liquid materia And this yielding and regulated tension is also welladapted to overcome any clogging of the paste in the receptacle with-'out breaking the device or wasting the material,

It will also be noted that the device described is fool-proof at bothextreme positions. When the piston has been forced for-' ward to thefull extent there will be no danger of breaking the device throughfurtherrotation of the disk 30 under ordmary conditions for the reasonthat under these circumstances the disk will rotate backward under thespring tension from the spring as soon as the operator releases his holdupon the disk for the purpose of further rotating the disk. Similarlywhen the piston has been entirely retracted, the continued rotation ofthe disk 30 will do no damage as the disk- 30 will rotate in a reversedirection as soon asthe operator removes his hand from the disk.

It will be noted that we have so far described our device withoutreference to the particular material that is used in the device anclentirely without reference to the tooth brush shown in the drawings asattached to the dispensing device. It will be seen therefore that ourdevice is entirely operative as a dispensing device as alreadydescribed, it being; understood simply that when used as a separatedispensing device a cap or other proper closure will be provided for theforward opening 16 of the device in order to prevent the material fromleaking or drying out.

-The dispensing device herein shown may.

be readily used in connection with a tooth brush to provide a magazinesupply of tooth paste. For such use we provide a forward case 39 adaptedto inclose the cylinder 15 except for the forward end 16 of saidcylinder. The rear end of this casing 39 is provlded with interior screwthreading, fitting the screw threaded portion 18 of the cylinder 15.Upon this casing 39 may be pivotally mounted the handle 40 for a toothbrush 41. The tooth brush may be swung out of line with the cylinder toreceive paste from the cylinder as shown in Fig. 3 and then may be swungback into line with the cylinder as shown in Fig. 2 presenting the toothbrush for actual use with the case 39 and casing 23 forming a longhandle for the brush.

As the details of construction and operation of this brush have formedthe subject matter of a co-pending application further descriptionthereof herein is deemed unnecessary.

The purpose of the knurling uponthe rear end 17 of the cylinder 15 istoafford ready means for unscrewing the cylinder 15 from the outercasing 39 afterthe casing 23 and piston 19 have been detached from thedevice. The cylinder 15-will be thus removed from the outer casing 39where a fresh supply of material is provided already packed in anothersimilar cylinder 15. Our dispensing device is well adapted to be used inconjunction with tubes of tooth-paste or the like packed in cylinderssimilar to the cylinders 15. It will be seen that the cylinder 15 issimilar to the commercial form of tubes containing paste and requiresonly the addition of the threaded portion 18, a removable stopper forthe open rearend of the cylinder and preferably a knurled section at theextreme end of the cylinder beyond the threaded portion.

Where ready packed tubes of paste are not available in the formofcylinders 15, the cylinder 15 of our device will be retained as apermanent partof the article and re-' filled when desired from asuitable source of supply by-removing the casing 23 and cylinder asalready decoiled spring attac ed at its forward end to the rear of thepiston and adapted to enter said cylinder, a hollow casing secured tothe rear end of the cylinder and housing-said (coiled spring ''andprovided. with an inwardly extending projection near its forward endtoengage said coiled spring and means operated from without the casing forrotating said spring whereby longitudinal spring pressure is imparted tothe piston.

2. In a device for dispensing paste or the like, the combination of apaste-holding cylinder having a discharge opening at'its forward end, apiston adapted to slide in said cylinder and force the material forwardtherefrom as the piston moves forward, a coiled spring attached at itsforward end to the rear of the piston and adapted to enter saidcylinder, a hollow casing secured to the rear end of the cylinder andhousing said coiled spring and interiorly-screw-threaded near itsforward end to engage said coiled spring and means operated from withoutthe casing for rotating said spring whereby longitudinal spring pressureis imparted to the piston.

3. In a device for dispensing paste or the like, the combination of apaste-holding cylinder having a discharge opening at its forward end, apiston adapted to slide in said cylinder and force the material forwardtherefrom as the piston moves forward, a coiled spring attached at itsforward end to the rear of the piston and adapted to enter saidcylinder, .a hollow casing detachably secured to the rear end of thecylinder and housing said coiled spring and provided with an inwardlyextending projection near its forward end to engage said coiled springand means operated from without the casing for rotating said springwhereby longitudinal spring pressure is imparted to the piston.

4:. In a device for dispensing paste or the like, the combination of apaste-holding cylinder havingan open rear end and a discharge opening atits forward end, a piston adapted to slide in said cylinder and forcethe material forward therefrom as the piston moves forward, a coiledspring attached 7 at its forward end to the rear of the piston andadapted to enter-the rear of said cylinder and move forwardly therein, ahollow casing detachab-ly secured to the rear end of the cylinder andhousing said coiled spring and interiorly-screw-threaded near itsforward end to engage said coiled spring and means operated from withoutthe casing for rotating said spring whereby longitudinal spring pressureis imparted to the piston and the piston may-be withdrawn from thecylinder.

In witness whereof we have aflixed our signatures this 1st day of March,1919.

THOMAS E. BARNES. BREWSTER C. SHETTER.

